Cigarette carton



Aug. 28, 1962 J. A. HOULE CIGARETTE CARTON Filed May 4, 1960 3,051,305 Patented Aug. 28, 1962 Free 3,051,305 CIGARETTE CARTON James A. Houle, Havertown, Pa, assignor to American Viscose Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa, a corporation of Delaware Filed May 4, 1961), Ser. No. 26,858 2 Claims. (Cl. 20645.34)

This invention relates to a carton for a plurality of packages of packaged goods, and more particularly to a display canton for cigarette packages.

Because of the legal requirement of many states that a state tax stamp be placed on each package of cigarettes after they enter the state and before they are distributed to retail outlets, the cartoning of cigarette packages presents problems not normally encountered in other fields. The manufacturer generally packs cigarettes in paperboard cartons with ten packages to the carton and the cartons are loaded in large boxes for distribution from the manufacturing plant. The cartons are provided for several reasons, principally to protect the individual packages from being crushed or torn, to provide additional moisture protection and to facilitate the handling of the packages. Upon entering a state having a state tax on cigarettes, the wholesaler or distributor removes the cartons from the large box and must openeach carton in order to afiix a stamp to each of the packages, this opening of the cartons and afiixing of the stamps generally being done by machine. While the manufacturer could, of course, carton the cigarettes in a variety of different ways, his selection of the type of carton is of practical necessity limited to a carton which can be readily opened and preferably resealed by the distributor without marring the appearance thereof. While the cigarette companies go to great lengths to provide attractive packages for the cigarettes, the cartons are generally designed primarily for utility, there being a not inconsequential expense involved in attractively printing the paperboard carton. In many instances the appearance of the carton is not particularly important because the retail merchant removes the packages from the carton and sells the packages individually but a great many cigarettes are sold by the carton, particularly in supermarkets and large drug stores, and where they are so sold it is highly desirable for the carton to present an attractive appearance. Since the individual packages are so carefully designed for attractive appearance, it would be desirable to provide transparent cartons but heretofore this has not been within the realm of practicability. Rigid transparent cartons are much too expensive and if the packages were completely overwrapped with a transparent film, the film would be destroyed when opened for the purpose of afiixing the state tax stamps.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved display carton, particularly a carton for cigarettes.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved cigarette display carton which may be readily opened to permit the afiixing of state stamps to the individual packages and then rescaled Without damaging the carton.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a cigarette carton which exposes the individual packages to view and at the same time affords greater protection for the contents against loss of moisture than do paperboard cartons now commercially in use.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a paperboard blank which is so cut and scored that it may be folded and secured together .to provide an element of a cigarette display carton.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description of a preferred embodiment thereof proceeds.

Referring now to the drawing:

=FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a paperboard blank which is used in forming one of the elements of the complete carton;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view showing the improved carton in an inverted position;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view showing the bottom of the carton opened up to permit tax stamps to be applied to the packages; and

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the carton in an upright position, some of the packages being omitted and others shown only in ghost outline.

The present carton consists of two basic elements the first of which is fairly rigid and formed of paperboard cut, scored, folded and secured to provide a tray on which and in which ten packages of cigarettes are arranged in upright position in two side-by-side rows. The paperboard element is so constructed and arranged as to provide end panels each of which is in the form of an elongated rectangle substantially equal in size to the two narrow sides of the side-by-side cigarette pack ages. The other element of the carton is a flexible sheet of packaging film which overwnaps a portion only of the paperboard element and the packages in a manner presently to be explained.

The rigid portion of the carton is formed of a single piece of paperboard cut in the form shown in FIGURE 1. The paperboard blank is scored to provide a first panel 10 in the shape of an elongated rectangle and a bottom forming panel 11 separated from the panel '10 by a score line 12. The panel 11 is substantially the same size and shape as the panel 10 and the score line extends along two adjacent long sides of these panels. Separated from the panel 10 by score lines 13 and 14, respectively, are a pair of end forming panels 15 and 16. The end forming panels are in the shape of elongated rectangles and one of the short sides 17 of panel 15 as well as one of the short sides 18 of panel 16 lies in a. line with the score line 12. Attached to one of the long sides 19 of panel 15 and separated from said panel by a score line 20 is a side forming panel 21 in the shape of an elongated rectangle. A second bottom forming panel 22 in the general shape of an elongated rectangle is separated from panel 21 by a score line 23 and a tab-forming portion 24 is separated from one end of panel 21 by a score line 25.

The paperboard blank as described above is folded along the score lines so that the panel 11 overlaps panel 22 and these two panels are detachably secured together by a line or spots 26 of a suitable adhesive to form a carton bottom of a size to accommodate a plurality (usually 10) of cigarette packages arranged thereon in two sideby-side rows, the individual cigarette packages :being designated at 27. Tab 24 is folded so as to lie against the inside face of end panel 16 and is permanently secured thereto by a suitable adhesive. Thus the paperboard forms the skeleton, or, as referred to above, the first portion of the carton.

While the long side panel 10 is shown as being of greater height than side panel 21, it will be understood that the two side panels may be of equal height, or panel 21 may be higher than panel 10. The exact height of the side panels is determined by the design of the cigarette packages. For example, one of the panels may be suflicien-tly high as to cover most of the face of the packages leaving only the brand name visible. Again, one of the panels may be low enough so that the major portion of the package is exposed to view. One of the purposes of the present carton is to enable the most effective display of the packages themselves because it is the package which generally receives the major emphasis in cigarette advertising and the material displayed on the package is generally selected with a greater amount of care. Some packages have different designs on the front and back and this will sometimes make it desirable to provide a higher side panel on that side of the car-ton facing the backs of the packages. In some instances it will be desirable to provide a window in the high side of the carton so as to display only a selectedportion of the packages. In any instance, the higher side panel provides ample space for a distinctive advertising message while the lower side emphasizes package identification. The side panels must be high enough to permit the overwrapped flexible film to be sealed thereto, as will presently be explained, and additionally they contribute to the formation of a carton which may be handled by the presently used state tax applying machinery.

After the packages are placed in the tray, a clear packaging film 28 is wrapped around the end panels and 16, the upper ends of the packages and the exposed side faces of the packages. In other words, the packaging film overwraps the package group and the paperboard portion of the carton except for the bottom thereof. Preferably the film is wrapped quite tightly and at the ends of the carton it is folded and overlapped and secured together as shown in the drawing. There are a number of machines commercially available which are capable of applying the film in this manner and insofar as the present invention is concerned the film could even be applied by hand, although this would of course not be commercially feasible. Along the two sides of the carton the film is secured to the side panels 19 and 21 so'that the packages are effectively sealed within the carton, all portions of the packages being protected by the packaging film except for the bottom of the carton. While various types of packaging film may be employed, the preferable material is cellophane which has been coated with a suitable resin or polymer, for example, saran so that the film may be heat sealed to the side panels as well as at the ends of the carton. The side panels 11 and 21 are also preferably coated or printed with a heat scalable adhesive, typical examples of which are adhesives based on vinyl resins or acrylonitrile elastomers. The film may be entirely transparent and clear, or, especially in the case of so-called holiday cartons, the. filrnmay' be colored and/or printed with a suitable message. The end panels 15 and 16 in addition to imparting strength to the carton provide a generous space at'the ends of the carton for brand identification. This is particularly important in view of the fact that many cartons are sold in supermarkets and the like where they are stored on shelves in such manner that only the ends of the cartons can be seen and while the side edges of the packages themselves may carry the brand name, it necessarily appears in rather small print. To facilitate the opening of the carton by the consumer a tear strip 29 may be provided.

Cartons constructed in the manner above described have been found to be up to four times as effective as the ordinary paperboard carton in preventing loss of moisture and consequent drying out of the cigarettes. The paperboard tends to wick away moisture from the packages whereas the polymer coated cellophane provides an effective moisture barrier and it will be observed that with the present carton by far the major portion of the packages is in direct contact with the film rather. than with the paperboard. This improved moisture retention is a valuable advantage for the manufacturer, the distributor, the retailer and the consumer inasmuch as considerable more time may be permitted to elapse between-manufacture and consumption without the possibility ofthe cigarettes becoming stale. The carton constructed in accordance with the present invention olfe-rs substantial protection to the retailer against pilferage 4 since all the packages in the carton may be seen without opening the carton. These cartons also afford better inventory control for the consumer since he does not have to reach down a long dark tunnel to discover that the last pack is gone, cigarette cartons being quite generally opened from the end.

When the shipping box containing cartons constructed as above described reaches the wholesaler or distributor in a state requiring a tax stamp to be aflixed to each packaage of cigarettes, the cartons are removed from the box and individually opened by inserting an instrument between the overlapping portions of panels 11 and 22. Since the two panels are only spot-glued together or lightly tacked along a line, they are readily separated as shown in FIGURE 3, whereby access may be had to the bottom ends of the individual packages so that the local tax stamps 30 may be a-flixed thereto.

After the packages have been stamped the carton may be rescaled by applying an adhesive to the panel 11 or 22 along the line of the original adhesive spots 26 and pressing the panel 11 back to its closed position. It will be observed that no cutting of any part of the carton is involved in opening it and that the flexible film is not disturbed in any way. There are presently in use a number of different forms of machines capable of opening and rescaling the carton in the manner above described and for applying the tax stamps to the individual packages but, here again, insofar as the present invention is concerned this operation could be performed by hand. The stamping machines commonly employ feed belts which bear against the sides of the carton to move them along and the side panels 11 and 2 1 protect the packages from damage by the belts in the same manner as the usual all-paperboard carton.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of the invention, what is claimed is: i

1. A cigarette display carton comprising a single piece of paperboard cut, folded and secured to provide a bottom panel in the form of an elongated rectangle, a plurality of cigarette packages standing upright on said bottom panel, said packages being arranged in two side-by-side rows with the side edges of adjacent packages in each row touching one another and the bottom of said plurality of packages being coextensive with said bottom panel, said bottom panel being formed of two pieces of paperboard which overlap throughout the longitudinal extent of said panel, adhesive means detachably securing together the overlapping portions of said panel, side panels integral with the long sides of said bottom panel and extending the full length of said bottom panel, said side panels snugly engaging the lower portions of the cigarette packages and having a height substantially less than the height of the cigarette packages, end panels extending between said side panels, said end panels extending substantially the full height of said packages, a flexible transparent packaging film wrapped tightly around the plurality of packages, the end panels and'the side panels, and means securing said film to said side panels near the bottom edges of said side panels for substantially the full length thereof, said adhesive means permitting the opening of the carton without damage to'the film or the paperboard.

2. The carton set forth in claim 1 wherein one of said end panels is integral with both said side panels and the other end panel is integral with one of said side panels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 447,799 Tondeur Mar. 10, 1891 1,891,525 Dietz Dec. 20, 1932 1,898,208 Olsen Feb. 21, 1933 2,652,335 Conti Sept. 15, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 714,123 Great Britain Aug. 25, 1954 

